Tools vs Process

I happen to do a lot of crafty, textiles things like spinning thread or yarn from fluff and some niche weaving styles. I took an intensive, 18-hours of instruction two months ago, focused on the textiles of the indigenous people in the Andes Mountains in Peru. The instruction was delivered mostly through storytelling and demonstration and included our teacher’s childhood experience living in this part of the world. One of the most unique observations she offered us is that in that indigenous culture, they tended toward process-based solutions for their textiles. In contrast, Western European cultures had a history of tool-based solutions for their textiles. So the typical Western European cultures will invent new tools to improve a process. But the Andean indigenous methods could create elaborate weaving processes with the simplest of tools.

I continue to meditate on this concept: Is this a tool-based solution to my problem or is this a process-based solution? It applies nicely to some of my movement questions. Do I need equipment to work these muscles? Or is there an activity I could do that would be equally effective? I used to also ask myself, “Can I do this movement for free?”

(It also applies to writing these prompts: When I have a desktop computer for my tool, the effort takes a shorter time to complete. I first penned this on Saturday on my phone as I was falling asleep and haven’t had the time until today to complete it!)

What Movement or Activity goals have you worked on or thought about that seem to need specific tools? Are there any process-based solutions that could help you move more the way you intend?